1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to exercise equipment. More specifically, the present invention relates to clothing garments and the like worn for exercise.
While the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications, and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility.
2. Description of the Related Art
Exercise garments are well known in the art. The following U.S. Patents are exemplary of exercise garments. U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,510 issued Sept. 18, 1973 to Jackson, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,814 issued Jan. 3, 1978 to Fox; U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,261 issued Dec. 25, 1979 to Kolka; U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,239 issued Dec. 1, 1981 to Walsh Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,497 issued Oct. 4, 1983 to Gracie.
Jackson, Jr. shows a composite exercise garment with a helmet, jacket, armlets, gloves, belt, shorts, thigh leggings, calf leggings and boots. However, the design of Jackson, Jr. is not a one piece body suit permitting easy access. Weights on the upper portion of the suit may cause undesirable strain on the lower back and pressure on the sciatic nerve. Weights below the knee may cause hyperextension of the knee. If these upper and lower components of the suit were eliminated, the weights mounted on the thighs would tend to slide toward the knee. When the shorts are attached to the jacket, the weights on the lower part of the suit place considerable stress on the fastener at the waist during exercise.
Gracie's garment suffers from the high placement shortcoming mentioned above while Kolka and Walsh show less than full suits. As less than full suits, these designs offer no thermal advantages for the upper body.
The one piece body suit of Fox provides resistance via elastic bands which extend the length of the body. This system is limited with respect to the amount of resistance or weight which may be used. In addition, the suit must be appropriately sized to achieve optimal resistance for each user. This tends to militate against mass production thereby adding to the cost of the suit. Further, the life of the elastic bands may be found to be too short for the demands of a typical user. Finally, the use of elastic bands is effective to work only a few muscles at best. In fact, the elastic bands tend to aid and not resist many important muscle groups such as the thigh and abdomen muscles. No provision is made for working the muscles of the arms.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a full one piece exercise suit which employs easily removable weights located and supported for optimum physical exertion and safe operation.